By Dr Karen Simpson Nikakis Foundation Head of Program

1. Creating a culture of honesty in a newly established, creative degree: NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing By Dr Karen Simpson Nikakis Foundation Head of Program DRKSNikakisJune2010

2. What is NMIT? • A TAFE (Technical and Further Education) Institute – providing vocational education and training (VET) in preparation for the trades • Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE was formed from other TAFE colleges in 1988 and presently has about 64,000 course enrolments (22,000 off shore), over 500 courses, and about 1200 staff DRKSNikakisJune2010

3. Where is NMIT? • As the name suggests, primarily in the northern region of Melbourne, with campuses at: • Preston, Collingwood, Heidelberg, Fairfield, Greensborough, Epping and Broadmeadows, with training colleges, a vineyard and equine centre DRKSNikakisJune2010

4. Where is NMIT? DRKSNikakisJune2010

5. Why degrees? • The provision of vocational education and training (VET) has become much more competitive over the last 10 – 15 years with governments opening funding up to Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s). • RTO’s can tender to carry out commercially attractive training with casualised workforces DRKSNikakisJune2010

6. Why degrees? • A more competitive environment coincided with a government shift away from financial support for the tertiary sector • A Federal Gov’t rethink of the divisions between vocational training and ‘academic’ education • Institutions providing articulation pathways from TAFE to HE to boost numbers – both on and off shore DRKSNikakisJune2010

7. NMIT degrees • In 2003, the Federal Gov’t allowed students in non self-accrediting higher education institutes access to FEE-HELP - a government loan scheme, and shortly afterwards, the Victorian Gov’t allowed TAFE institutions to offer degrees in niche areas. These areas have since broadened. DRKSNikakisJune2010

8. NMIT degrees NMIT’s degrees have developed quickly over the last 5 years and degrees are now offered in: • Equine industries/aquaculture/land management and viticulture • Business, Hospitality Management • Australian Popular Music, Illustration, Writing and Publishing • Others are in development such as the Associate Degree in Tertiary Studies DRKSNikakisJune2010

9. Degrees and Policies • The degrees are embedded in TAFE faculties and overall responsibility lies with the Deputy Director of Programs – Higher Ed, with the Associate Director of each TAFE faculty in charge of much of the budget and the Head of Program in charge of each degree • NMIT employs academics on academic conditions (unlike other TAFE’s with degrees) DRKSNikakisJune2010

10. Degrees and Plagiarism Policies The degrees evolved in a structure that: • Has the traditions and hierarchy of a vocational institution and so relies on policies the same as, or adjusted from, the vocational sector • The Plagiarism Policy for both the VET and HE sectors consisted of a paragraph in the Student Discipline Policy under Misconduct DRKSNikakisJune2010

11. Auditing Requirements • VRQA – audits the Institute to renew its registration as a TAFE • AUQA – audits the quality and appropriateness of the degrees • In 2009, NMIT was audited by both and AUQA was critical of the lack of a plagiarism policy specific to HE DRKSNikakisJune2010

12. Influences on the HE Academic Integrity Policy This hastened the completion of the HE Academic Integrity Policy (HEAIP) • The policy is reflective of both the traditional HE approach and the traditional VET approach • In setting up the degree program NMIT has been sensitive to the notions of integrity as espoused by established HE institutions such as the University of Melbourne DRKSNikakisJune2010

13. Influences on the HE Academic Integrity Policy • The University of Melbourne policy focuses on plagiarism as being both an ethical breach and a criminal activity, that is, fraud. The policy has strong notions of plagiarism being particularly unacceptable for graduates of their venerable institution DRKSNikakisJune2010

14. Influences on the HE Academic Integrity Policy • The other major influence on the HEAIP has been the VET focus on gradual skill acquisition • The policy thus reflects notions of students being supported to reach the required standards of citation and of this being part of a learning process DRKSNikakisJune2010

15. Difficulties with the HE Academic Integrity Policy • NMIT’s HEAIC defines plagiarism far more clearly than it does academic integrity • Blum’s research (2009) notes this as a common problem and suggests that students do not understand what academic integrity actually is (152-3) DRKSNikakisJune2010

16. Difficulties with the HE Academic Integrity Policy • Chandrasoma et al. (2004) suggest that the term ‘plagiarism’ is far from neutral and that it is more useful to think of the scholarly borrowings of the work of others as either transgressive or nontransgressive intertextuality (171-2) • In contrast, the HEIAC does not move much beyond notions of correct attribution to the complexities of how text is actually shared DRKSNikakisJune2010

17. The HEAIP and the Bachelor of Writing and Publishing (BWAP) • Notions of how text is manipulated have obvious relevance to the BWAP where students are required to work with text both as creative product and as commentary on creative product • As owners/creators and users, students have a constant dual perspective on the process DRKSNikakisJune2010

18. The HEAIP and the Bachelor of Writing and Publishing (BWAP) • This dual perspective potentially gives students a sense of the importance of ownership • However, students still struggle with the notions of whether information is generally known, and what constitutes an original idea DRKSNikakisJune2010

19. The HEAIP and the Bachelor of Writing and Publishing (BWAP) • The focus thus shifts to classroom teaching practice • NMIT has recently instituted Turnitin and the HEAIP requires that students have access to it • Research by De Lambert et al. (2005) suggests that plagiarism is more likely where students feel the assessment tool is unfair (91) DRKSNikakisJune2010

20. The HEAIP and the Bachelor of Writing and Publishing (BWAP) • Research by Rees and Emerson (2009) suggests that the use of Turnitin by staff at Massey University in NZ, did not change staff assessment methods • Therefore there is a danger that tools such as Turnitin are seen as a solution to the problem, rather than just another means of identifying it DRKSNikakisJune2010

21. The HEAIP, the BWAP and the way forward • This paper’s explorations suggest that the HEAIP, with its focus on defining plagiarism and its tool of Turnitin, will be insufficient to address the complexities of text ownership, text originality and text sharing • What must occur at NMIT is the integration of the teaching of these skills into classroom practice operating across all degrees DRKSNikakisJune2010

22. Presentation References • Blum, S. D. (2009) My word! Plagiarism and college culture. Cornell University Press: New York.   • Chandrasoma, C., Thompson, C., Pennycook, A. (2004) Beyond plagiarism: transgressive and nontransgressive intertextuality. Journal of Language, Identity and Education. 3(3). July 2004.171-193  • De Lambert, K., Ellen, N., Taylor, L. (2005) Academic dishonesty among students in tertiary institutions: a literature review. Waikato Journal of Education, Vol. 11, Issue 2. 2005. 83-99 • Rees, M. Emerson, L. (2009) The impact that Turnitin has had on text-based assessment practice. International Journal for Educational Integrity, Vol. 5, Issue 1. 2009. 20-29 DRKSNikakisJune2010